Negotiating Agency: Sustainable Financing in African Peace Support Operations

• In Event: The Future of Conflict Management

Abstract

In December 2023, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2719 indicating support for sustainable and reliable financing of peace support operations in Africa on a case-by-case basis. What this entails is the use of UN assessed contributions to fund peace support operations led by the African Union or other regional organizations in Africa (African PSOs). Drawing on historical institutionalism and practice theory, this paper explores the process of negotiation around sustainable financing for peace support operations in Africa and argues that a confluence of negotiated and strategic practices between the African Union Commission and the UN Secretary General created the political conditions for UNSC members to develop coherent country positions affirmatively supporting the use of assessed contributions for African PSOs. The paper traces diplomatic engagement from the original considerations related to financing AU PSOs in 2016 and shows how the AU Commission Chairperson’s delegated authority provided institutional space to negotiate a repertoire of practices with the UNSG to develop a coordinated position on financing AU PSOs, which played on the geopolitical aspirations of UNSC P5 members. The paper demonstrates how international bureaucrats can alter the landscape of conflict management and resolution, while indirectly influencing preference alignment among major powers in the UN Security Council.

Author

• Emmanuel Balogun, Skidmore College